SingPost’s 2024 fraud incident allegedly involved e-commerce shipments bound for Canada

[SINGAPORE] More details have emerged about Singapore Post’s (SingPost) parcel delivery fraud incident that came to light in 2024.

The Business Times understands the major client involved was Cainiao, the logistics subsidiary of Alibaba. The fraud involved the shipment of parcels from China to Canada. (* see amendment note below)

On Dec 22, 2024, in a Singapore Exchange filing, SingPost revealed the existence of a whistleblower report about alleged manual entries of certain delivery status codes for international transhipment parcels for one of its largest customers. Allegedly, this had taken place without basis or supporting documentation with the intention of avoiding contractual penalties under the agreement.

BT has learnt the packets were marked with “delivery failure” (DF) code, indicating that delivery to the recipients was attempted but was not successful. However, it seemed that delivery had not been attempted.

This saved on shipping costs and helped avoid contractual penalties which would be levied for example, if key performance indicators were not met. (* see amendment note below)

Contracts signed with e-commerce platforms include clauses for performance and deliveries. (* see amendment note below)

There was no clear indication of when the practice began, but possibly some time in 2023.

In terms of the extent of the fraud, given the time frame involved, an estimate of the volume of parcels could range from hundreds to thousands.

In response to a request for comment from BT, SingPost said it had addressed the matter in its bourse filings/media statements on Dec 22, 2024, and Dec 29, 2024, and had nothing further to add.

The group also told BT: “Since then, (we have) tightened our operational protocols and remains committed to the highest standards of governance and transparency to protect the interests of our stakeholders.”

Joint venture unwound

Back in 2015, SingPost and Alibaba unveiled a joint venture to grow cross-border logistics. Alibaba Group bought a 34 per cent share in SingPost subsidiary Quantium Solutions International for S$86.2 million. QSI took a 17.6 per cent stake in Cainiao’s logistics company 4PX. (* see amendment note below)

On Apr 16, 2025, SingPost announced that it would acquire Alibaba’s stake in QSI for S$36.9 million. Cainiao would also acquire QSI’s stake in Cainiao.

Effectively, the transactions rolled back the joint venture between SingPost and Alibaba.

“The execution of this agreement enables the efficient unwinding of our cross-holdings, allowing SingPost to simplify our investment portfolios, and pursue strategic objectives,” said Simon Israel, SingPost’s chairman when the announcement was made.

Alibaba did not respond to queries from BT on whether the divestment was a result of the DF incident.

Whistleblower report

The first whistleblower report on the fraud was received by the company on Jan 17, 2024, and SingPost’s group internal audit began investigations.

On Feb 28, 2024, another whistleblower report was addressed to the Infocomm Media Development Authority and copied to SingPost.

The whistleblower reports and the results of the internal investigations were not made public.

In June 2024, three personnel from the operations team in SingPost’s international business unit (IBU), including a senior manager, were dismissed from the company and a police report was filed against them.

On Dec 22, 2024, Singpost detailed the fraud incidents and its internal investigation led by its group internal audit and announced the termination of then group CEO Vincent Phang, group CFO Vincent Yik, and chief executive of Singpost’s international business unit Li Yu.

The three were not directly involved in the allegations raised in the whistleblowing reports.

SingPost said then: “(In) relation to the handling of internal investigations into the whistleblowing reports (the three) were grossly negligent and had omitted to consider material facts that compromised their decision-making and/or failed to perform their duties responsibly and reliably.”

On Dec 29, 2024, SingPost said the conduct of the three included the false assertions, among others, that there was no evidence of data manipulation and that the practice of manual DF data entries was requested by the customer who was fully aware of these entries that were in line with industry practice.

In a response, Phang and Yik said in a statement to the media at the time: “We categorically reject any suggestion that we were grossly negligent, had behaved inappropriately or had sought to misrepresent facts at any point.”

SingPost also said that the fraud was “isolated and limited only to the contract with the specific customer and the practices of the three former staff from IBU Operations”. The practice of manual DF entries was stopped and “corrective action” taken to prevent similar occurrences.

SingPost also added that a settlement was reached with its client and the contract was renewed in August 2024, though it did not reveal further details, saying only that the “eventual settlement with the affected customer has no material financial impact on the group”.

* Amendment note: The article has been updated.